How NUP lost speaker races even with lion’s share councilors

Regardless of having super-larger parts in metropolitan gatherings, the National Unity Platform-NUP party two or three speakership and representative speaker seats to free competitors or those of the decision National Resistance Movement-NRM in surveys held for the current week.

In Lubaga division, the NUP competitor Rehema Fugge was crushed by the NRM up-and-comer Twaha Mayanja, in a gathering where NUP has 64 councilors chosen on its ticket against the 11 individuals from the NRM. The story was something similar in different regions like Makindye and Kampala Central, constraining infuriated NUP allies to take to web-based media to show their disappointment, blaming their chiefs for deceiving the battle.

However, this result was to be expected. While the gathering did primaries to get neighborhood government speakers a week ago, disarray broke out at the gathering base camp after the consequences of the vote were announced. Allies blamed councilors for taking hush-money to impact their democratic choices.

Driven by famous NUP extremist Sauda Madada, allies said it was unsuitable to choose pioneers who are NUP in name as it were. They said such positions ought to be taken over by party radicals who have been down and dirty with their President Kyagulanyi Robert Ssentamu as he mismatched the nation searching for votes, and in the process conquering the brunt of state severity.

‘How might you give the card to known NRM allies and leave the troopers. These are individuals we have been with in the battle and it ought to be them to be given administrative roles,’ a sad Madada yelled to the Election Management Committee drove by the previous Bugweri Woman MP challenger Mercy Walukamba.

The issue of bribery was also hinted at by Kyagulanyi during his unscheduled address to the councillors before they cast their vote. One of his handlers who talked to URN then said he had thought his address would change people’s minds. ‘He wasn’t supposed to speak but he thought if the councillors heard from him, they would do the right thing. But he was disappointed that they elected people because they had paid them,’ the handler said.

But away from the internal squabbles, money was also cited in the final elections that took place this week. Two councillors who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity confirmed that indeed they had been influenced to vote the way they did. ‘It’s very hard to win an electoral college vote if you don’t have money. You really should forgive councillors because there are a few people who can turn down money when it’s offered,’ one councillor from Kawempe said.

Another from Makindye added that even the lack of transparency during the identification of candidates for the party in the general election also has an influence on how people behave now. ‘Many of those people blaming us have nothing to tell us because they are part of the problem. They extorted money from people before they gave them cards. If they are turning out to be corrupt, they shouldn’t blame them,’ the councillor who asked not to be named said.

But Mercy Walukamba challenged anyone who gave her money to come out publicly and say it. She however said it’s hard to vouch for other members of her Commission if they too are as clean as herself.

On why they lost seats yet they have commanding majorities in councils, Walukamba attributed it to infighting within the party. She added that they have also heard of allegations of money exchanging hands.

Lewis Rubongoya, the Secretary General of NUP said it wouldn’t be surprising if money played a big role in their defeat. Rubongoya said that although their party aims at having a cleanup of the corruption mess that they say has characterized the NRM government, they can’t do so overnight.

He however said they have started carrying out investigations to establish the facts and if anybody is caught on the wrong side, severe disciplinary actions are going to be taken against them.

This is not the first time that NUP leaders are accused of taking money to vote in a certain direction. During the election of the speaker and deputy speaker of parliament, it was said that some MPs belonging to the nascent party were given between one and three million Shillings to vote for particular candidates. But not withstanding all this, Rubongoya says their party remains the most viable option to replace NRM.